The untolf ref review : Arsenal – Birmingham

By Walter Broeckx, the ref with the hardest job in the Arsenal World

If we can forget all the shit that happened in the last minute we can still try to see how ref Dean did his game. And what his contribution was. And I must say that I noticed a few of the things that I said he would do.

Min

Type

Text

C/NC

pts

weight

on

1

OTHER

Nasri tries to run to a ball but is blocked and no foul is given. You could see the Birmingham defender checking his and Nasri his run to block him.

NC

0

0

1

1

CARD

As this could lead to a goal scoring opportunity it should have been a yellow card

NC

0

0

2

2

OTHER

Offside given against Birmingham this was not correct

NC

0

0

1

2

PENALTY

Szczesny brings the striker down and so it should have been a penalty. And a yellow card. Not a red card because when a players rounds the keeper and goes to the outside this is a yellow and not a red. If he goes inside and takes the direct route to goal it is a red card

NC

0

0

3

3

OTHER

Offside given against Arsenal

C

1

1

1

3

OTHER

Foul on wilshere not given advantage

C

1

1

1

10

OTHER

Arshavin tries to control a ball and gets a push in the back. No foul given

NC

0

0

1

10

OTHER

Arshavin because of the push and the missed control commits a foul which is given; Should give the first foul ref.

NC

0

0

1

17

OTHER

Foul on Wilshere given

C

1

1

1

18

OTHER

Offside given against Birmingham

C

1

1

1

21

OTHER

Foul on Van Persie not given advantage given

C

1

1

1

23

OTHER

Two fouls holding and kicking on Arshavin nothing given. Dean has something against our Russian player

NC

0

0

1

26

OTHER

Offside against Birmingham

C

1

1

1

27

OTHER

Foul on wilshere given

C

1

1

1

28

GOAL

Zigic places himself in front of Szczesny but as the corner is taken he steps away from the keeper. So no foul on the keeper even for me. A correct goal

C

1

3

3

29

OTHER

Dangerous play on Rosicky not given

NC

0

0

1

29

CARD

coming in with a high foot studs showing at knee height should be booked

NC

0

0

2

30

OTHER

Foul from Song

C

1

1

1

33

OTHER

Foul from Rosicky

C

1

1

1

34

PENALTY

Gardner plays the ball to Zigic who is alone on goal but misses. Birmingham claim a penalty but they seem to miss the detail that the foul was outside the penalty area

C

1

3

3

35

OTHER

Foul against Birmingham advantage given

C

1

1

1

36

OTHER

Foul from Koscilny given. First tackle Koscielny played the ball second played nothing. Boywer himself cam flying in rather wild. Birmingham got the call from Dean. Can be given like that,

C

1

1

1

36

CARD

Koscielny gets a card. A nice little play acting from Bowyer and a soft yellow card. His foot was not higher than the ball, his sliding tackle was not frontal to the opponent

NC

0

0

2

38

GOAL

Nothing wrong with the Arsenal goal

C

1

3

3

41

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky given

C

1

1

1

41

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky not given advantage

C

1

1

1

41

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky given, third foul within a minute

C

1

1

1

42

CARD

Larson doesn’t agree with the correct call and shows this very loud an clear and gets booked

C

1

2

2

45+

OTHER

Carr kicks the ball out and goes back to defend and looks astonished as het gets the throw

NC

0

0

1

46

OTHER

Foul on Wilshere given

C

1

1

1

48

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky not given advantage

C

1

1

1

49

OTHER

Handball Carr but not seen and given

NC

0

0

1

53

OTHER

Foul given against Arshavin

C

1

1

1

53

OTHER

Foul given against Clichy

C

1

1

1

53

CARD

Again a soft yellow card for a small obstruction

NC

0

0

2

55

OTHER

Offside against Birmingham

C

1

1

1

56

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky not given

NC

0

0

1

56

OTHER

Nasri then commits a foul which is given. Should punish the first foul.

NC

0

0

1

57

OTHER

Offside against Birmingham

C

1

1

1

60

OTHER

Foul on Nasri not given

NC

0

0

1

60

OTHER

Nasri commits a foul advantage given

NC

0

0

1

62

OTHER

Foul given against Arsenal for a very small foul on a defender. So after all those years Dean shows that he knows this rule but unfortunately just against Arsenal yet.

C

1

1

1

64

OTHER

Foul on Van Persie not given

NC

0

0

1

64

OTHER

Foul on Van Persie not given

NC

0

0

1

65

OTHER

Offside against Arsenal

C

1

1

1

67

OTHER

foul against Van Persie near to our own penaltyarea not given. Like I said he still only give those fouls against us on defending players

NC

0

0

1

70

OTHER

Foul on Bendtner given signalled by the assistant

C

1

1

1

71

OTHER

Foul from Wilshere not given

NC

0

0

1

77

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky given

C

1

1

1

78

CARD

this time the ref gives no card against the birminghamplayer just a lecture. Compare this with the way he treated Clichy

NC

0

0

2

80

OTHER

Foul on Djourou not given advantage played

C

1

1

1

80

OTHER

Foul on Rosicky given

C

1

1

1

85

OTHER

Foul against Rosicky given, really dont know for what?

NC

0

0

1

86

OTHER

foul against chamakh not given

NC

0

0

1

88

OTHER

Foul against clichy given

C

1

1

1

89

GOAL

How much that I would have liked it but I cannot find anything against the rules

C

1

3

3

89

CARD

Koscielny is still down on the floor as the Birmingham mob passes him by. Ferguson punches him on the head. Needless, not a very great act of sportsmanship and bad behaviour and most of all should get him send off

NC

0

0

3

90

OTHER

Foul from Nasri

C

1

1

1

90+

OTHER

Birmingham take about one minute to make a substition and the game back going. No real added time for this.

It will be brushed under the carpet but once again I have seen the same blatant flaws in the game of ref Dean. Fouls on Arsenal defenders are easily neglected. On the other hand they are not.

Dean is doing a personal crusade against Arshavin. After seeing all the games when both were involved this is crystal clear. The Russian gets no calls from Dean. Not even the most blatant ones.

Dean didn’t see the punch against the head from Koscielny after the Birmingham goal. He was to busy running around in joy I think and forgot that as a ref you must keep an eye on the celebrating players to see they do nothing wrong. Dean clearly didn’t check them and missed this.

In extra time he let a two footed tackle on Clichy go that even for Larsson was embarrassing as he showed to Clichy. You could see him apologising to Clichy. As a result Birmingham kept a long spell of possession deep in our half. After a substitution that took ages in extra time and kicking the ball away he gave almost no extra extra time. In the first half he did this by letting play go on for more than one minute after the 4 minutes had been gone.

When we talk about the bias index one should keep in mind that the best way to show/hide your bias is to not give fouls to a certain team. I have counted 12 fouls that Dean did not give during this game which should have been given for Arsenal. And this number does not include the times when he played the advantage which was about 5 or 6 times. Not that there was any real advantage, it was more that we kept possession of the ball.

And if you can stand the sight of it you must check the final whistle. I have never seen a ref jumping with both hands in the air when he blows the final whistle. Dean is the first I have seen doing this in my whole career of following football which goes some 40 years now. Some refs raise both hands at the end of the game but I never see them doing it while jumping in the air. I think he really was a very happy man at the final whistle. Job done. Once again.

I can’t believe the Rooney decision. Why is it that so long as the ref that made the decision agrees with his own decision then no action can be taken?

Surely Clattenburg is more than likely going to agree with his own decision. He’s not going to admit he got it wrong and then face a few weeks as referee in Championship games. It should be up to a panel to decide whether the decision was correct.

It’s actually my very first post ever on your site though i’ve been reading and supporting you guys for ages! 🙂

Just a question regarding the push/shove/punch during the Birmingham Celebration. Is this a sort of action that can merit a suspension for the player/s and will Arsenal actually take some action regarding this?

It was really uncalled for and I believe if it was someone like Vieira or Adams who got that punch, the game would end up in a brawl!

To tell you the truth, I wish it did end up as that even if we lost the match as it was really uncalled for.

Bexxy, I do this every game so why should I stop it when we lose?
I must say that Dean is becoming a master in covering up his bias/flaws. Mind you I’m not saying he cost us the game. No he just made sure that Birmingham got the 50/50 calls in their favour.

After the game I had a double feeling about Dean. I first thought that he had a rather good game. But when you analyze some things and some of his decisions and knowing what I had written in my match preview many things came together once again.

And when we won at Leeds with Dean he had around the same score if I remember right. He then also tried to level the field a bit by doing some mostly unnoticed decisions.
Beware with Dean as the ref we will not win many games.

I love your articles, especially the incident by incident reporting. It is always a fair report. It’s your tone in the summarising that at times, sounds like a sulking school kid. Hard done by, cheated etc. The beautiful game is not perfect nor corrupt to the extent that the entire world is against us.

Walter, I think that a tape showing a sequence of Dean’s non-calls against Arshavin would be a very important stepping stone toward progress. It could be a priority amongst your many. Documenting bias against a player might be easier than showing it against a team and harder to refute by naysayers/self-blindeds/bents. Please consider its upside and how far it could be circulated via YouTube, fans, UA supporters. Cheers and unity! Go Gunners!

Just bit the bullet and logged on to the internet, and was dreading the knee jerk anger.
Really impressed with the comments on the site as there is a sense of loyalty here, even at the times when it is hardest to be loyal.
The team still isn’t quite there but our rivals are VERY worried about the day when it clicks and the first trophy arrives. What they would really love is for us to turn on the team and get on their backs. The more solid we can keep the support the better chance we have of making up ground in the title race.
Do I feel disappointed? Yes. Do I feel angry? Yes.
Do I want to help Chelsea, Spurs and United by turning on the manager and team? No way.

Bob,
I wish I was bit more handy on those things. I’m not a specialist on those things. But the way he always lets people pull and kick Arshavin is really very open if you want to see it. Some will not want ot see it.

I have said it many times this season but I will say it again. The EPL referees will not tolerate Arsenal winning the PL this year or any other. The pro bias for Manchester United is so blatant as to be unbelievable and has never been more clearly demonstrated than with the latest Rooney incident this weekend. Factor in to this the lack of correct decisions and the calls that go against Arsenal week in week out and there is no other conclusion to come to. The levels of corruption are so great that it has gathered a momentum all of it’s own. Just think back to the calls against us at Old Trafford earlier this season. Yes we didn’t play well but the penalty against Clichy, the lack of action against Ferdinand’s waist high assault on Sagna, Fletcher’s charge across the pitch to confront and push the ref in the chest when a decision went against him and the levels of hypocrisy and expectations that reveals. And that was one game against us. Then think of the Man U game against WBA and the lack of a critical penalty and sending-off against Neville. I could go on about Rooney, Scholes and Vidic’s unpunished acts but would merely point out that the things have and do result in points and every point they gain unlawfully is a point against us.

walter,mike dean may want birminham to win yesterday,but the loss was not dean’s fault but arsenal’s.in fact arsenal got lucky with the early penalty waiver they got through the lines man.Now if the ref and the linesman wanted arsenal to lose,a penalty+red card would have been given.Lets face it walter,your man wenger has lost it and it is his fault as you dont rely on inexperienced goalkeepers no matter how good they are,inconsistent defenders,poor substitute midfielder like rosicky and a very good striker that gets injured often(v.persie).

Walter, before the match, many were noting that Arshavin’s role would be critical because of injuries to Cesc and Theo. The documented non-calls against Arshavin would play a significant part in reducing his effectiveness and perhaps leading to his replacement at a point where we’d be better served with him on the pitch. Just some food for further analytic thought. I hope someone with technical chops could help string together any number (a dirty dozen?) instances where Dirty Dean allows mayhem against Andrei. If you wanted to invite that help, could identify moments in the matches where Dean v. Arshavin is in evidence, then perhaps the help would be there, even for this one time. I’m not obsessed with it, but I think it could be a real chink in Dean’s armour, where the light of truths could help disinfect the lives of Riley’s stable.

@Adam, Walter: yes, alas, you’ve been spot on, Adam! I feel that if we had a good-hearted technical volunteer, and then used, say, Arsenal TV’s digital match archive (or any other possible source), then if Walter would identify a number of egregious call/non-calls (such as Dean’s non-calls vs. Arshavin) AND string them together, that would be Exhibit A. Then, for Exhibit B, construct a sequence that shows the non-calls on behalf of MU (like Rooney’s and the other ones you highlight). Well these together would be a powerful 2-part visual piece of evidence that would get high-profile attention in many quarters. I believe it would go (good) viral on the web. Such images could put massive pressure on Riley’s Stable at Kastle Fergus. expose the Dean of (impaired) Faculities, and surely do Fair Football a world of good.

@babawaran yinka, I agree with your analysis, but it’s not either yours or Walter’s. Both can be true at the same time and, in my view, for what it’s worth, both are true of this match. Do we do ourselves in, yes. Are we done in by others? yes. We can and must make progress in both areas. Let’s stick together and push for improvement on all fronts. Go Gunners!

What is it with Arshavin and refs? Dowd was determined not to give him anything either.
Please keep up the good work exposing this Walter – you will get a few slagging you off for it but I think we all know where those types are coming from.

About the jumping of Dean at the end of the game yesterday. Some may think that this is of no importance but as a ref I know a few things and one of the things is that most refs always have the same ritual to end a game.

I just have been checking all the games Dean had with Arsenal so far this season and the way he made an end to the games:
Chelsea-Arsenal 2-0: Dean just blows his whistle while standing still and makes no gesture with his arms in the air.
Arsenal -Newcastle 0-1 : Dean just blows his whistle while standing still and makes no gesture with his arms in the air.
Fa cup Leeds-Arsenal: Dean just blows his whistle while standing still and makes no gesture with his arms in the air.

This is his normal pattern of making an end ot a game. But yesterday he was jumping a bit like a girl and putting his arms in the air like most of the Birmingham players.

And I know that without the mistake we made we could/would have won the game after extra time or in normal time even.

But when I see a ref doing strange and unfamiliar things I can only see what I see and report them. This was a man full of joy at the final whistle who broke with this usual ritual to finish a game.

Now if someone can prove me that Dean in other games when Arsenal is not involved always jumps at the end of the game and throws both his arms in the air I will accept that it is his actual ritual. But really I dont think people will show me the contrary.

And like I said a few times before it is by watching how a ref reacts that you see “strange” things. But most of us only look at the ball when watching a game. when I do my reviewsI certainly mostly look at the ref his reaction, body language as this is very important and tells me a lot.

And for the zillionth time: it was the mistake between CB and keeper that cost us the game. But this doesn’t mean that the ref should have done his job in a proper way in the game.

About the not given penalty. As I pointed out the linesman made a terrible mistake. It would have been pretty interesting to know what Dean would have done: giving a red card or the yellow that was enough(as I explained). Because of the mess up of the linesman he couldn’t do anything. Except over rule the assistant but that would be a very dangerous thing to do.

My conclusion is that by only giving half the fouls of Birmingham he made life more difficult for us. and not giving some fouls were really inexcusable.

Re Deans reaction at the end.
You may want to watch the referee at the end of the 71 Cup Final. Probably the most extraordinary reaction to the final whistle by a match official in history.

Leaving that aside it is clear that both through the actions of officials both on and off the pitch (Rooney elbow incident) that there is clearly something at best odd, at worst utterly corrupt going on in the Premier League.

I said a few months ago and i will say it now, unless Arsene recruits some more english players, we will never win any more trophies. I live in Uganda, but even I, very far away can see the crusade against Arsenal. Ok we were beaten by good goals, but during the match, I had told people that not many teams win when they get almost all the 50:50’s against them. For me i could hear the bias even in the commentating on TV. That’s why from now on I will just enjoy my Arsenal, knowing fully well that should we win any thing this season, it will be an unlikely surprise, a sort of early Xmas gift. NB: Tomorrow, don’t be surprised when ManU win by a ‘bad’ goal, or on Saturday we lose or draw because of one.

JohnW has a point. is it against Arsenal or just non-english players? For Arsenal, it is probably the same since we haven’t had many (any?) english players for a while. i don’t see Wilshere getting many decisions against him by the ref? think getting one or two english defenders no matter how rubbish will help us get the extra 50:50.

I like most of your analysis but I disagree about the Bowyer incident. From my seat I could see that the assistant flagged quickly though I had no idea at that stage that he was wrong. If played had continued our keeper would have been given a red card.
I thought Dean was prissy in his decision making but he did not cost us the game. We lost because we are arrogant and do not finish sides off. Take the last three games – Orient – we should have been out of site but a late gaol means we have another fixture. Stoke – OK we won but were we comfortable defending a 1-0 lead for so long? I don’t think so. Then yesterday – 2 terrible goals given away. Sagna was terrible in the initial build up to their first goal and Koscielny’s initial defending of the corner was poor. How many chances did we spurn during the second half? We have had all this hype about the quadruple but stand to win nothing. As I queued for a train yesterday a Brummie guy said to me he hoped we would win the league because ‘you play the best football’. Between penalty areas this may be true bit in each penalty area our play leaves much to be desired. Credit to Birmingham. They are a limited side who played to their few strengths. Did anyone notice how much time Foster was wasting during the second half? It was obvious that their plan was to nick a second goal or try to win a penalty shoot out. We were mugged because we could not cope with long balls pumped up to Twizzle. I have seen better defending at Kent League/ Ryman League standard.

So glad to have found this site: very thorough articles about biased refereeing. We often feel so enraged/can’t speak/in tears, when we see Dowd roaring his delight at giving penalties against Arsenal and Dean leaping for joy at the Birmingham win. With old mother Riley in charge, it just follows that SAF is obeyed. So let’s paste Orient 6 nil, after a Torres hat-trick tomorrow.

Red Jessie, the instructions are made very clear to us. If a player takes the direct way to goal (on the inside of the keeper) it is a red card. If he goes to the outside and therefore makes his own angle more difficult in a way the attacker himself decides this and goes from a clear open goal possibility to a less clear goal possibility.
He then goes away from goal.

But I am pretty sure that Dean would have given a red card if he had the chance. But this is just me trying to read his mind. But based upon the things I have seen from Dean in the past

I didnt think much of the referee, but I think he was equally bad for both teams. Overall I have no feeling that the referee cost us the match at all.

Regarding the Koscielny “punch”, that was nothing. Almost impossible for the referee ore linesman to see, but nothing anyway. Just a small moment of gamesmanship that goes on in a game. You could see it didnt hurt Koscielny, except for his ego.

It was hardly a punch (by Ferguson) on Koscielny…more a gentle slap, but very unsporting & worthy of a yellow, and should have been actioned by the fourth official…it’s his job to spot violent play. If it was that bad, and not put into any of the refs reports, then surely the FA would have made charges against Ferguson today.

We lost a cup final. We were awesome and we still lost. Our football is the best in the world in spite of officials and media trying their version of JIHAD. I have seen Arsenal grow from ‘boring boring’ to ‘the most beautiful’ playing the beautiful game.

I too never felt that Dean was having a stinker, we knew what to expect from him, and from Brum. it is a fact that he struggles to spot a foul and applies an English interpretation of the laws. But he was not why we lost.

However i did just check on ATVO if he jumps, and yes it is a fact

THE REFEREE CELEBRATED AT THE FINAL WHISTLE BY JUMPING UP IN THE AIR WITH HIS HANDS ALOFT. HE THEN LOWERS THEM, AND RAISES THEM AGAIN. WITHOUT DOUBT HE IS CELEBRATING SOMETHING, VERY VERY STRANGE THING TO DO. ANYONE THAT CAN CLIP THIS ON A FILM AND STICK IT ON YOU TUBE??

I agree with you that the referee didn’t cost us the game.. But I also see Walter’s point about Dean being clever in the way he seeks to influence the game. Walter perhaps overstates the fact, especially as regards this game but his point is still valid.

Wigan should’ve had a penalty and possible red for Schzezny, although you say yellow in this case. Now that was an appalling decision. Don’t take this too far, Arsenal had the better of the decisionson Sunday on balance. I’m an Arsenal fan but this wasn’t down to bad reffing. Clichy apparently, although I haven’t checked, played Birmingham onside on many occasions apart from the big error, just like the Barcelona game. Rosicky didn’t defend well and didn’t pass well, I think it’s time he moved on because he hasn’t had a good match all year. Koschielny went from hero against Barcelona to villain here. I had high hopes but clearly he’s not consistent enough yet.

I just would like to point out that even attempting to punch a player should be punished with a red card. It doesn’t matter if you hit him or not. Just the movement of your hand to another players head should be punished with a red card according to the instructions.
Like our instructor used to say: “if you want to use your hands for that you should become a boxer not a footballer”

Well its all their to see FA hide behine PGMO M Riley statment.
ref M Clattenberg { caught sight of 2 players coming together and awarded a free kick.}So answer the QUESTION did Clattenberg see Rooney ELBOW in the head a other player? if its Yes its a Red card if No Tv replays show it clearly and action should be taken .The FA want to reward Sir Alex F with his record off most titles before he retires. Maybe when that happens the EPL maffia godfather will take his FA friends to lunch. FA is bias

FA isn’t just biased.. They are corrupt.. I used to respect ManU for their achievments but they get a free ride from the FA and the refs that I have nothing but contempt for them now. Didn’t the premier league also delay the fines that Alex Ferguson was supposed to be for not talking to the BBC (which is a story in itself)

Possibly the most one-eyed example of sour grapes I have read on a football blog. Post this on any neutral forum and I think it would be greeted with stunned disbelief. It’s this pious, one-eyed, delusional approach to football that is making Arsenal (and the club’s supporters) a laughing stock.

Calling Birmingham a “mob” is shameful.
Pointing out the unsporting behaviour of Ferguson is interesting. When I observed it yesterday it brought to mind Martin Keown’s gloating when RVN missed a penalty for Man Utd several moons ago. All clubs have idiots.

Heaven help us when you guys start analysing this year’s “Arsenal Financials”!! This place will be in meltdown.

Macca,
if I am not mistaken Keown was punished for his behaviour after that.
So are you suggesting that the FA should take action?

And sorry to call them a mob? In my country they call Birmingham as the “Bonecrunchers” for a few years now. I think I was being nice.
And the way they behaved again last season and this season in the league when they were kicking and kicking and kicking all over the place….

On the subject of dodgy refs, maybe today is finally the day that proof arrives that something really is going on with Utd and the refs.
Can anyone tell me another instance whereby a player runs 20 yards, blatantly elbows another professional.
However, the ref, Mark Clattenberg puts an arm around the elbower, if that is a word… and smiles at Rooney. There are calls for a ban, even Utd fans admit their player has seriously transgressed. Fergie rants about the media electrocutng Rooney? Yet the ref refuses to review the situation further and Manc Riley comes out with his joke like statement supporting Clattenberg.
Ben Thatcher did something similar to Mendes, banned 8 games, suspended for 15.
Walter or anyone else, can you even begin to shed light as to how Rooney got away with that…and why?
If other clubs have players banned over similar offences using retrospective evidence – can they use this Rooney situation as a precedent to have it overturned?
Is this protection of an England player, a Utd player, fear of Fergie or something else?

Mandy dodd,
I cannot explain to you what you are asking.
There are only a few people around that can but they will keep their mouth shut to protect themselves.

People can call me names, can abuse me. I really don’t care. I see what I see. I am not blind.
And believe me it hurts me to the bone the things I see. I don’t want the EPL to be runned by a corrupt gang who have the refs in their hands. With refs who can be biased and who are assessed but we dont know the results of that.

Well it only makes me more determined to fight them with the only weapons I have: the freedom of speech (presented to me by Tony).
And it also makes me more determined to support the Arsenal.

Maybe I should remind new readers a bit more that my ref reviews are not really against the other team (as sometimes they also cannot help what the ref is doing) but they are a way of looking at how a ref performs and how he is doing what he should do: apply the rules, nothing more, nothing less.
And that it is not his task to support or help one team or another.

yes i saw that elbow incident from rooney and i thought it was disgraceful, if the FA don’t take no action about that incident then we know for a fact that they are stupid twats that favour manure, because an incident like that is just not acceptable in football.

Walter the one thing that annoys me about the likes of Macca disrespecting your article with his limited knowledge of the Refereeing rules is that week in week out whether its Rooney with the Elbow or Fergusson hitting Kos or Schezny getting thrown to ground against Newcastle.

The likes of Macca cant see that that 10 wrongs dont make a right …..even tonight Velas goal was offside tonight while I might smile because it was against stoke its still wrong. “Hopefuly though he scores 3 against birmingham next week and sends them to the chamionship.

When england play in anything we cant get away with the crap the EPL lets them with week in week out and as a result the national team has no idea how to defend.
Walter Keep up the good work of trying to improve football in general and dont listen to those who think wanting fair Refereeing standards is been biased.

I told everyone before the game Dean would look for a way to hurt Arsenal. I counted 16 fouls on Arsenal players not given and 3 more in favour of Brum that were ridiculous. Any person who cares for the soul of the game can see it if they look. In addition- the card for Clichy was a disgrace. Jumping for joy at the end- alone- is sine die for me, even sweeping aside his season’s vendetta against Arsenal. The Clattenburgh affair- not sending off a player who has clattered (?) an opponent deliberately on the head probably cost Wigan 3 points and Arsenal 3 points. Further 3 points were ‘protected’ at West Brom and what about the two failed sendings off of Neville. Another few points there I suspect. In all fairness- the title should be handed to Arsenal now. But no- the charade will be played out to the end because the spineless FA, Premier League, Press and Media dare not– the mind boggles– DARE NOT–why?–dare not intervene.I have no idea who is reffing these games but watch out for Benders being put in charge of the Man U v Liverpool and Chelsea games. They havn’t finished making sure the Mancs get the title yet. It took ages for the Italian corruption to come out- but it did. Let us hope we don’t have to wait so long.

at the time Shearer was the golden boy, England centre forward, so too is Rooney.

It stinks so much it is obscene, FA spineless, not fit for purpose as their own past Chairman admitted.

The press will not persue, they too are spineless, but with the enpowering internet, we now have access to the tools once only the press had at their disposal.

Publish and be damned, the FA are spineless cowards interested only in the preservation of the gravy train on which they sit. The one we pay for. Shame on them for not following their own guidlines or procedures.

Donnyfan, I counted 12 fouls that Dean didn’t give to Arsenal and there has been some 5 or 6 where he gave the advantage signal. I think we are both spot on I would say.

And for those who have been paying attention in the last weeks I have said that by looking at the not giving fouls you can see the bias best. And as a ref you can make life difficult for one team. So difficult they lose their normal ability to play their game.
And as we are a team that is very depending on playing our technical game a ref that doesn’t give the obvious fouls is giving our team a handicap.

It is interesting to note that from the 4 games we had with Dean this season we only could win one and even in that game he handed a goal to the opposition on a big silver plate.

You forgot to mention that TCD blew up as the ball dropped into the Birmingham box in a dangerous position. HE DID NOT WANT AN ARSENAL EQUALISER! PERIOD! 99% of refs ‘see out’ an attack before blowing up!

Clear bias towards Chelsea in the game against Man U tonight. Are the conspiracy theorists ready to at least accept that there is no plot my Premiership refs to give the Championship to Man U. I’m an Arsenal fan but I do think some take it too far. I also feel that refs always let personal feelings guide their decisions.

1st off, VERY big fan of this site. It is a blessing that the media-fueled schizophrenia and mindless neurotic bashing that infects many (all?) arsenal blogs is not present here. It makes for very…’tranquil’ and informative reading. =D

I’d just like to offer a few outside observations. While I find the ref reviews worthwhile, I’m not completely convinced that they are leading to the conclusive/corrupt conclusions you guys seem to think. At the moment, I think that they’re more indicative of the effect of unintentional bias than anything else (you could test (prove?) it by reviewing a few non-arsenal games that involve ‘suspect’ refs?).

If you want to take these studies to the next level then you’re going to have to be more honest in your approach (i.e. at the moment you guys seem to be looking for proof of corruption in every decision and it is colouring the data), a little more subjective and a little more scientific with the whole experiment. Also, what you really need, is to get a neutral to write these reviews, preferably several.

Charlie, you cannot jugde this based on this one game. Maybe the ref yesterday has one of the other reasons that I mentioned in my articles to try to tilt the game in chelsea’s way?
Maybe it was a bit of reversed psychology? Because I didn’t see the whole game but only small pieces but in the first half it was annoying to see how Rooney was dictating the ref how he should blow and what he should blow and where the ball should be placed. And when I saw this I was thinking: if I would be the ref and I would have a player who was telling me how to ref the game I would give him a card for his constant interfering with mu business. And after what he has done last weekend I would advice him to stay a bit more low profile.

But you could see from the way Rooney behaved that he felt he could run the game like he thought and can get away with anything.

Surely, with regards to minute 56, you cant class the foul by Nasri as an incorrect decision just because there should have been a foul given before it. If that were the case, every decision after an incorrect one would be wrong, as the game would have played out differently, no?